1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to selection and presentation of streaming media, more particularly to a convenient and user-friendly system and method for providing users with streaming media across networks.
2. Background of the Invention
The Internet provides an example of a widely used network that allows users access to previously unobtainable information and content. One of its most powerful attributes lies in its ability to overcome geographically imposed barriers. Information can be transferred across the globe for the same cost and in nearly the same amount of time required to transfer that same information across a city. New applications are emerging that leverage this capability but the user interfaces fail to make it accessible to most users.
Streaming media players make a good example of this problem. Streamed media typically comprises content that is sent to the user in small pieces from a network, rather than requiring the entire content to be buffered at the user's site. Both audio and video data is being streamed across the Internet to users, allowing people with minimal memory for buffering to be able to hear and see content that they otherwise would be unable to access.
However, the user interfaces for these types of media present a significant barrier to most users. The interfaces require the user to enter a uniform resource locator (URL) for either the media site or a search engine. They also do not provide capabilities that the typical ‘player’ such as a radio or television have, such as the ability to scan the available stations, provide more than one channel without having to know the exact location of the other channels, and does not allow the user to select or restrict their preferences to certain stations, locations or types of content.
Some work has been done in this area, but it does not overcome these problems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,471, issued Apr. 20, 1999, sets out a method for storing lists of frequently used links to URLs on a server, rather than on a user's computer. This is an advantage for limited-memory devices, such as mobile Internet devices. It allows users to store lists of frequently used links and design and configure their lists themselves. However, it does not overcome the difficulties in locating the links initially, nor does it solve the problems of having one interface that provides several options for streaming media.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,980, issued Aug. 11, 1998. This patent is owned by RealNetworks.com, which is probably best known for their media player, RealAudio™, which is available for free and is one of the dominant audio players on the Internet. The patent provides for a method for sending users on-demand audio content. However, in order to access the content, the user must go to RealNetworks web site, http://www.real.com. The user must then select the content they want and no provisions are made for allowing them to designate more than one audio provider, such as a radio station.
Another website that provides users with audio content can be found at http://www.broadcast.com, which provides a list of radio stations that offer content over the Internet. However, due to buffering delays, the user can only access one station at a time, and if that station drops of the air for some reason, the user must return to the site and select another one. Additionally, the providers use different players, such as RealAudio™ or Windows MediaPlayer™, and the user is required to download the necessary players
Therefore, a system and method are needed to allow users to access streaming content over a network in a convenient and robust manner.